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early humansenCopyright 2017 NPR - For Personal Use OnlyNPR API RSS Generator 0.94Tue, 09 May 2017 18:15:00 -0400https://media.npr.org/images/stations/nprone_logos/npr.png?s=200early humanshttps://www.npr.org
Primitive Humanlike Species Lived More Recently Than ExpectedThe surprising finding suggests that small-brained <em>Homo naledi </em>may have lived at the same time as early humans in South Africa, complicating previous notions about human origins.Tue, 09 May 2017 18:15:00 -0400https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/09/527624658/primitive-human-like-species-lived-more-recently-than-expected?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/09/527624658/primitive-human-like-species-lived-more-recently-than-expected?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

The surprising finding suggests that small-brained Homo naledi may have lived at the same time as early humans in South Africa, complicating previous notions about human origins.

(Image credit: Wits University/John Hawks)

]]>Merrit KennedyThose Ancient Stone Tools — Did Humans Make Them, Or Was It Really Monkeys?Capuchin monkeys in Brazil have been seen making sharp stone flakes. It was previously thought that only humans and their ancestors had flaking skills.Wed, 19 Oct 2016 13:02:00 -0400https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/19/498421284/those-ancient-stone-tools-did-humans-make-them-or-was-it-really-monkeys?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/19/498421284/those-ancient-stone-tools-did-humans-make-them-or-was-it-really-monkeys?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

Capuchin monkeys in Brazil have been seen making sharp stone flakes. It was previously thought that only humans and their ancestors had flaking skills.

It's tempting to think that our forebears got lots of blissful snooze time. But modern-day hunter-gatherers aren't getting more than 6.5 hours a night, researchers say. And that's without smartphones.

(Image credit: Oivind Hovland/Getty Images/Ikon Images)

]]>Angus ChenSouth African Cave Yields Strange Bones Of Early Human-Like SpeciesDeep inside a rocky chamber, reached by a narrow crevice, researchers found more than 1,500 fossilized bones of what may be the gravesite of a creature never before identified by science.Thu, 10 Sep 2015 05:01:00 -0400https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/10/437249183/south-african-cave-yields-strange-bones-of-early-human-like-species?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/10/437249183/south-african-cave-yields-strange-bones-of-early-human-like-species?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

Deep inside a rocky chamber, reached by a narrow crevice, researchers found more than 1,500 fossilized bones of what may be the gravesite of a creature never before identified by science.

(Image credit: Photo by Mark Thiessen/National Geographic )

]]>Nell Greenfieldboyce2 Gene Studies Suggest First Migrants To Americas A Complex Mix Scientists assume a wave of people from what's now Siberia crossed into North America via Alaska, maybe 23,000 years ago. Genetics support that, but may also suggest another wave from Australasia.Tue, 21 Jul 2015 15:45:00 -0400https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/07/21/424813708/two-gene-studies-suggest-first-migrants-to-americas-a-complex-mix?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/07/21/424813708/two-gene-studies-suggest-first-migrants-to-americas-a-complex-mix?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

Scientists assume a wave of people from what's now Siberia crossed into North America via Alaska, maybe 23,000 years ago. Genetics support that, but may also suggest another wave from Australasia.

(Image credit: David J. Meltzer/Science)

]]>Christopher JoyceNew Discovery Of World's Oldest Stone ToolsResearchers in Kenya uncover tools dated to 3.3 million years ago, long before the first humans, as we know them, walked the Earth.Wed, 15 Apr 2015 16:43:00 -0400https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/04/15/399937433/new-discovery-of-worlds-oldest-tools?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/04/15/399937433/new-discovery-of-worlds-oldest-tools?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

Researchers in Kenya uncover tools dated to 3.3 million years ago, long before the first humans, as we know them, walked the Earth.

(Image credit: Rhonda L. Quinn/Nature/AP)

]]>Christopher JoyceCan You Dig It? More Evidence Suggests Humans From The Ice AgeInitially dismissed as a hoax a century ago, scientists have found evidence in Florida of humans living 14,000 years ago. If the findings hold up, they will help rewrite the history of early man.Sat, 28 Feb 2015 04:43:00 -0500https://www.npr.org/2015/02/21/387313451/can-you-dig-it-more-evidence-suggests-humans-from-the-ice-age?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/2015/02/21/387313451/can-you-dig-it-more-evidence-suggests-humans-from-the-ice-age?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

Initially dismissed as a hoax a century ago, scientists have found evidence in Florida of humans living 14,000 years ago. If the findings hold up, they will help rewrite the history of early man.

(Image credit: Greg Allen/NPR)

]]>Greg AllenMaybe Early Humans Weren't The First To Get A Good GripThe opposable thumb you use to hold a pencil was long thought to be a defining aspect of humans. But an analysis of finger bones suggests stone tool use by pre-humans — perhaps 3 million years ago.Thu, 22 Jan 2015 15:45:00 -0500https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/22/378915363/maybe-early-humans-werent-the-first-to-get-a-good-grip?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/22/378915363/maybe-early-humans-werent-the-first-to-get-a-good-grip?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

The opposable thumb you use to hold a pencil was long thought to be a defining aspect of humans. But an analysis of finger bones suggests stone tool use by pre-humans — perhaps 3 million years ago.

(Image credit: T.L. Kivell & M. Skinner)

]]>Nell GreenfieldboyceEarliest Human Engraving Or Trash From An Ancient Lunch?Carved zigzag marks on a shell found more than a century ago have drawn new interest from archaeologists. The half-million-year-old lines aren't from an animal, and might be art from <em>Homo erectus</em>.Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:03:00 -0500https://www.npr.org/2014/12/03/367845103/earliest-human-engraving-or-trash-from-an-ancient-lunch?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/2014/12/03/367845103/earliest-human-engraving-or-trash-from-an-ancient-lunch?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

Carved zigzag marks on a shell found more than a century ago have drawn new interest from archaeologists. The half-million-year-old lines aren't from an animal, and might be art from Homo erectus.

]]>Geoff BrumfielIndonesian Cave Paintings As Old As Europe's Ancient ArtFigures found on the walls of a prehistoric cave in Indonesia are at least 35,400 years old or more, scientists say. That might mean the earliest art developed independently in different regions.Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:03:00 -0400https://www.npr.org/2014/10/08/354166930/indonesian-cave-paintings-as-old-as-europes-ancient-art?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/2014/10/08/354166930/indonesian-cave-paintings-as-old-as-europes-ancient-art?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

Figures found on the walls of a prehistoric cave in Indonesia are at least 35,400 years old or more, scientists say. That might mean the earliest art developed independently in different regions.

(Image credit: Kinza Riza/Courtesy of Nature.com )

]]>Nell GreenfieldboyceMixing It Up 50,000 Years Ago — Who Slept With Whom?The DNA from a 50,000-year-old Neanderthal bone found in a cave in Siberia is more evidence that genetic mixing took place among Neanderthals and other hominid groups. One researcher hopes to use such evidence to help compile a catalog of the genetic changes that make modern humans unique.Wed, 18 Dec 2013 16:57:00 -0500https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/12/18/252046939/mixing-it-up-50-000-years-ago-who-slept-with-whom?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/12/18/252046939/mixing-it-up-50-000-years-ago-who-slept-with-whom?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

The DNA from a 50,000-year-old Neanderthal bone found in a cave in Siberia is more evidence that genetic mixing took place among Neanderthals and other hominid groups. One researcher hopes to use such evidence to help compile a catalog of the genetic changes that make modern humans unique.

(Image credit: Bence Viola/Nature)

]]>Christopher JoyceStone Age Stew? Soup Making May Be Older Than We'd ThoughtThere's nothing better on a cold day than a warm bowl of soup. But when did our ancestors first brew up this tasty broth? New archaeological evidence suggests that soup making could be tens of thousands of years old.Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:06:00 -0500https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/02/06/171104410/stone-age-stew-soup-making-may-be-older-than-wed-thought?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/02/06/171104410/stone-age-stew-soup-making-may-be-older-than-wed-thought?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

There's nothing better on a cold day than a warm bowl of soup. But when did our ancestors first brew up this tasty broth? New archaeological evidence suggests that soup making could be tens of thousands of years old.

(Image credit: iStockphoto.com)

]]>Sarah ZielinskiAdventurous Eating Helped Human Ancestors Boost Odds Of SurvivalThe discovery of new foods by chefs of the prehistoric age may have helped our human ancestors evolve, archeologists say. Hominins that lived about 3 million years ago began eating grasses and sedge, which helped them survive in different environments.Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:12:00 -0500https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/11/12/164970806/adventurous-eating-helped-human-ancestors-boost-odds-of-survival?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/11/12/164970806/adventurous-eating-helped-human-ancestors-boost-odds-of-survival?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=earlyhumans

The discovery of new foods by chefs of the prehistoric age may have helped our human ancestors evolve, archeologists say. Hominins that lived about 3 million years ago began eating grasses and sedge, which helped them survive in different environments.